Although it is of little consequence now, I'd like to go on record saying that I was an unwilling accomplice in the tragic event during last weekend's run.  While the sparrow and I were traveling down the path and then froze to assess each other, I had no idea that the red-tailed hawk was watching the entire time.  And when it streaked through the trees and past my shoulder, I was powerless to help as my former friend disappeared in a cloud of feathers.  There was little left to do but continue my run, safe in my relative position in the food chain but severely rattled nonetheless.

So... a little over 31 miles of running last week.  Intervals on Tuesday were slightly difficult to keep up with - 3 sets of 2 intervals of 3/4 mile each.  Between the late-evening run on the treadmill due to a scheduling conflict, the complicated training session, and all the "Biggest Loser" drama I was mindlessly trying to keep up with, I probably screwed it up somewhere.  But at least I tried.

The tempo run on Thursday was 10 miles at marathon pace.  Once again, an early-morning conflict put me on the treadmill at night for the whole thing.  Not a lot of fun there, to be honest.  Saturday's run was 15 miles at marathon pace + 20 seconds/mile.  Except I read my training calendar wrong and ran it at MP + 10 seconds/mile.  Ooops.

I'll try posting a snapshot from SportTracks (http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/) of my training mileage so far.  Hope it works out.

Favorite moment of the (long) run:  A few miles into the run, a flock of geese flew overhead.  They were honking, making a huge racket, and drawing a lot of attention to themselves.  15 seconds later, a lone goose followed.  Quietly and with strong consistent strokes, he appeared to be gaining ground.  I didn't miss the metaphor.

Song-of-the-run:  "Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up" by Garth Brooks.  In March of 1998 when my wife was 8 months pregnant with our first child, we went to see Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood in concert.  When he fired up this song, our daughter started kicking the inside of my wife's belly like a drum in perfect time with the music.  It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen and the song makes me smile every time I hear it.  And it's not bad for running, either.